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How Do You Let Them Down Gently?

Started by awe4one,

85 posts in this topic

awe4one

awe4one

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Found out today a co-worker has a pretty large comic collection (2000+). He's very proud of the collection and evidently loves comics. Problem is he also seems to think his collection is worth big money though not sure exactly how much. It's clear he's gotten all his pricing information from Wizard and still thinks Superman #75 is worth $75 and "knows" his Witchblades are worth big money. From what I gather the bulk of the collection is Moderns. He started collecting during the "Death of Superman" timeframe and has many Image titles from the era (which he thinks are worth money).

 

He also has an extensive Batman collection to include a number of pre-300 Detective issues. For some reason he thinks one (he thought it was #214) is worth $2500. 893whatthe.gif I asked him why and he said it was because it's in nice condition. I'm not sure where he getting this but I suspect the LCS owner is facillitating some of his thinking.

 

Regardless, he wants me to take a look and confirm how valuable his collection is (he's heard of my alias awe4one and thinks I'm some sort of authority insane.gifsmirk.gif). Normally, I would just be straight forward and tell the guy his collection is mostly commons and not really worth much but I'm afraid that if I do it'll kill his love for comics. Again, money isn't the only thing driving his passion but unfortunately he also thinks this collection will contribute to his retirement...

 

Ever have a similar situation? By the way, I also supervise this fellow...

 

Jim

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FlyingDonut

FlyingDonut

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I just did this with somebody. Get an Overstreet and walk him through it. Also walk him through the concept of "non-returnable" comics, which, I think, is the biggest misconception people have about books.

 

I'd also walk him through eBay auctions, as that will show very well the marketplace for a lot of his common books. thumbsup2.gif

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awe4one

awe4one

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Tell Chuck from MH about this fantastic find that's sure to be the next pedigree, have him fly down and waste more of his "valuable " time. Then let Chuck tell this guy what he has is krap. Problem solved.

 

I couldn't do that to another military member. Now if the guy was a total 893censored-thumb.gif your solution would work wonders... thumbsup2.gif

 

Jim

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Rob

Rob

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For some reason he thinks one (he thought it was #214) is worth $2500. 893whatthe.gif I asked him why and he said it was because it's in nice condition.

 

I like how non-collectors are so used to seeing comics in Fair or Good, that in the rare occassion they see one in 4.0-5.0, they think it's in "nice condition" and price it at the NM price.

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Point Five

Point Five

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Ever have a similar situation?

 

A year or two ago I took a look at a local collection and the scenario was kind of similar to what you're talking about. It was this older guy who was frantically trying to sell crates of 80s Marvels in low-to-mid grade. There were a number of X-Men issues scattered among them and it was obvious he thought they were worth good money based on very old, very optimistic pricing information (that in any case didn't take grading standards into account).

 

He was desperately trying to get me to make him an offer of (fill in number) hundreds of dollars for the whole collection...I literally wouldn't have taken 95% of them for free. I did my best to be polite and tactful, but man, it was really depressing.

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awe4one

awe4one

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For some reason he thinks one (he thought it was #214) is worth $2500. 893whatthe.gif I asked him why and he said it was because it's in nice condition.

 

I like how non-collectors are so used to seeing comics in Fair or Good, that in the rare occassion they see one in 4.0-5.0, they think it's in "nice condition" and price it at the NM price.

 

I'm pretty confused by how he came to this number...OS NM is $785. Either he completely misunderstood the price somehow or saw a CGC slabbed copy go for that amount and thinks his copy is also worth this...

 

Jim

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skybolt

skybolt

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I've had a couple of co-workers ask me to buy their bronze age collections, but I declined in both cases. The hardest part was trying to convince them that just because the book doesn't have any tears, it doesn't mean it's in near mint condition. When I told them that each of their very good to fine books is probably only worth a buck or 2, they frowned at me and never spoke of their collections again. makepoint.gif

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Mac Man

Mac Man

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I think walking them through the most recent OS is probably the nicest way to do it- this way you can come across as being truly concerned about helping them discern the value of their collection. And lo and behold! The prices aren't actually that high! Well, darn... wink.gif And if you can show him some examples of what an actual NM, VF, FN, VG, etc look like, he can see that there is a gradual difference as you move from one grade to the next.

 

Now granted, the prices will still be a little high on some of those comics, but at least it will bring him closer to the reality of their value. This way, OS is the bad guy- not you. And, he'll have a visual means of seeing what the proper grades actually look like.

 

Best of luck!

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KingOfRulers

KingOfRulers

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We've actually got a few people recently on the comicspriceguide boards that think their collections are big money, and that their comics are all of course "Mint" or "Gem Mint". Its actually hard sometimes to tell them that the books are worth little more then bulk material prices--$.10-$.50 per book in many cases. I feel bad trying to tell them that their comics aren't worth much. I've been in the same situation as you awe4one.

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Paratrooper

Paratrooper

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Tell Chuck from MH about this fantastic find that's sure to be the next pedigree, have him fly down and waste more of his "valuable " time. Then let Chuck tell this guy what he has is krap. Problem solved.

 

I couldn't do that to another military member. Now if the guy was a total 893censored-thumb.gif your solution would work wonders... thumbsup2.gif

 

Jim

 

I still recommend my way, heck the guy is probably in the Air Force, which doesn't count as the military anyway poke2.gif

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Paratrooper

Paratrooper

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Man, you're really taking it to Chuck hard this month. Is this burn Mile High at the stake month or something?

 

This is my first post against Chuck....but now that you bring it up, I've been banned from Metro, let's see if I can get banned from MH somehow.

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